couldnt of said it better myself 1918 LIVES ON!!!!!!!
Joe.t said:Busted! Manny Forever Taints Red Sox Championships
By Phil Allard
NYYFans.com Staff Writer
May 7, 2009
Live, therefore, and bear about thy doom with thee, in the eyes of men and women
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
Gentle Reader:
If you see a Red Sox fan this evening, have some compassion. These people waited 86 years for a World Championship, only to see it rendered shallow, illegitimate, and ignoble by Manny Ramirez’ positive drug test, which was officially announced by Major League Baseball today.
You’ll be able to recognize these Red Sox fans quite easily. They will be the ones talking in hushed tones—their enigmatic faces flushed with shame and sorrow—as they ponder what to say to their kids as they tuck them in tonight.
A lot of conversations will go something like this:
“Not only was Manny a fraud, son, but the Red Sox didn’t deserve to win the 2004 World Series after all. Or the 2007 series. You see, all those home runs he hit…well, well, they weren’t real. That is, I don’t know how to say it: The Red Sox cheated. We always thought it was the Yankees who cheated. But it's us, son. We couldn't break that curse without cheating.”
That sound you hear from the Northeast is the crumbling of thousands of Manny posters as they are ripped off the walls in kids’ bedrooms from Burlington to New Bedford, from Bangor to the Back Bay.
No matter how Sox fans spin this, they can never live down the simple fact that the first World Championship in their lifetime is definitively tainted by a positive drug bust. They waited so long…and now it’s dirty, ill-gotten booty.
No amount of manipulation from Peter Gammons or all the other members of the Red Sox propaganda machine in the Media can change the plain fact that Manny has cast a pall on New England the likes of which has not been seen since Hester Prynne bore her illegitimate child.
Make no mistake. This is a sad day for baseball. The only silver lining is it puts an end to the idiocy of so many in Red Sox Nation who thought their boys were clean, that performance enhancers only went down in New York. There is no longer any point in them shouting "Steroids" at A-Rod when their main basher has been convicted.
Boston fans, take it from one of your own, Bill Simmons:
We look at the 2004 banner again. I always thought that, for the rest of my life, I would look at that banner and think only good thoughts. Now, there's a mental asterisk that won't go away. I wish I could take a pill to shake it from my brain. I see 2004 and 2007 and think of Manny and Papi first and foremost. The modern-day Ruth and Gehrig. One of the great 1-2 punches in sports history. Were they cheating the whole time? Was Pedro cheating, too? That 2004 banner makes me think of these things now. I wish it didn't, but it does. This makes me sad. This makes me profoundly sad.
No one in their right mind would suggest that Manny began juicing this year. Would the Red Sox have won in '04 and '07 anyway? Who knows? But we do know this:
Manny cheated. No matter who tests positive in the future, Manny’s name is permanently secured in the Hall of Infamy. It’s his legacy. And those Red Sox championships? They cheated...kind of like the football team.
Hey Matt Damon…How do you like them apples?
Here is the official release from MLB:
PRESS RELEASE:
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that outfielder Manny Ramirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been suspended for 50 games for a violation of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The suspension of Ramirez is effective immediately.